Many Ways of Seeing: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection

The 101 objects in the Alfred Stieglitz Collection have inspired countless new ways of seeing and thinking over the past hundred years.

At the turn of the twentieth century, many of the artworks passed through Stieglitz's New York galleries, where visitors came to see the latest examples of modern art. Upon his death in 1946, Stieglitz left thousands of artworks to his widow and fellow artist Georgia O’Keeffe to disperse. Most objects went to major museums in the northern half of the US, but one group found a new home at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee.

At a time when much of the American South was still racially segregated, this 1949 donation to a school for Black students was remarkable and heralded among the Fisk community. In 2011, Fisk and Crystal Bridges announced a joint ownership agreement whereby the collection would rotate between the two institutions, traveling between Nashville and Bentonville every two years.

This exhibition celebrates the ongoing legacies of Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O’Keeffe, and their 1949 gift of art to Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. 75 years after the debut at Fisk and 15 years into co-ownership with Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the collection continues to inspire a spirit of boldness and experimentation in art and in life. This milestone also led to a new illustrated publication—the collection's first—to share these stories with generations to come.

This exhibition is free, no tickets required.